Tzolkin is my new favourite board game! It is a strategy board game in which you need to collect resources to build an ancient civilisation and keep the Mayan God’s happy. It’s a relatively hot new(ish) game from 2012.
The most exciting thing about this board game is the turning wheels or cogs. The cogs represent Tzolkin – The Mayan calendar and your turn happens each turn of the wheel.
How to play Tzolk’in
Throughout the game, you will place your workers on the wheel or Mayan structure of your choice. Each go you need to place workers or remove them, but you cannot do both and you cannot do nothing. The idea is to strategically plan when you remove your workers, because this can get them resources (gold, stone and wood) to help them to build their ancient city. The moving gears are central to game play because the longer you leave a worker on the gear, the more he can accumulate or different things can be achieved.
You also need to keep the God’s happy and move up the temple steps. Avoid cutting down trees to grow crops as this will make the God’s cross with you.
Tips and Strategies for Tzolk’in
- By advancing your corn farming technology, you can maximise corn production on the green cog, giving you a lot to play with.
- By collecting crystal skulls and placing them on the blue cog, you can gain extra victory points to help you at the end.
- By building monuments, you can get extra victory points for certain things, so make sure that you plan which ones will be the most advantageous for you to build depending on your position and skills.
What I love about this Game
- The concept of the Mayan calendar.
- The moving cogs – awesome!
- The way that time planning is a key element in the game.
- The Tribes and Prophecies Expansion